Statement on the Campaign to

Cut Waste Initiative/DATA Act
Expanding the transparency and accountability practices learned from the reporting of Recovery Act funding to cover all federal spending is a prime example of good government in action. We applaud the collaborative efforts of President Obama’s Administration, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) for taking steps to make this a reality. For 35 years, CGI has consistently and successfully partnered with government clients at the federal, state, and local levels to help them reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase transparency so they can meet their mission and business goals. With more than 11,000 employees in the United States, CGI strongly supports all efforts to make government more transparent, accountable, and responsive to the American people. As a result, we hope that the Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste initiative and Congress’ work on the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) Act will both move forward quickly so that there is an opportunity to make this transformational change a permanent one. The reporting requirements established in the Recovery Act, and the implementation of them by Chairman Earl Devaney and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (RATB), clearly established a governmentwide best practice for collecting and sharing information about how effectively government spends taxpayer dollars. The expansion of this model to cover all federal spending will not only help to deter and minimize fraud, waste and abuse, but will allow government, businesses, and individuals to be more confident that public funds are spent wisely and in a manner that allows all Americans to see and measure the results. As the RATB has shown with its implementation of the Recovery Act, collecting information directly from recipients of federal grants and contracts increases transparency. It is a model that works. Building on the initial steps of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) and the USAspending.gov Web site, the Administration’s Executive Order and accompanying Campaign to Cut Waste initiative represent a bold step forward in making government, and those who receive government funds, more accountable to taxpayers. Additionally, the DATA Act introduced by Chairman Issa and Senator Warner shows a commitment from both parties and both houses of Congress to ensure that this initiative continues well beyond any single administration. As a company that works closely with more than 100 federal government clients, we welcome the DATA Act’s proposed establishment of a single reporting system for recipients of federal grants and contracts as well as the implementation flexibility given to the new Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency (FAST) Board. The DATA Act provisions requiring the FAST Board to develop a set of common identifiers and consistent reporting standards for all federally-collected data should eventually enable a more streamlined reporting process that will ease the burden on recipients as they report. Although we anticipate both houses of Congress reviewing the legislation closely and making modifications, it is encouraging to see strong, bipartisan support for such an important issue. We are confident that any legislation emerging from Congress will remain true to the core principles around greater accountability and transparency while at the same time providing the tools necessary for federal agencies and recipients of federal funding to successfully implement this act. Again, we commend President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senator Warner and Chairman Issa for their vision and collective leadership on this critical issue. We look forward to quick implementation of the Campaign to Cut Waste and passage of the DATA Act.

Donna S. Morea President, CGI US, Europe, and Asia

George D. Schindler President, CGI Federal